A Tale of Two Nations: A Mind-Numbing and Frightening Picture
And a Call to Action for High-Quality Childhood
Education.
There are many concerns being voiced today about our future and how it
is being threatened. A column by George
Will in this Sunday’s newspaper, for example, spoke about the threat of
President Obama’s ignoring “the encroached limits imposed on the nation by his
policies that are funded by debt that will burden future generations.” And yes, we must deal with the issue of
our debt.
But that is not the overriding issue that will most determine the
future of our nation. That issue is
whether we will come to grips with the totally inadequate preparation and
readiness of about 30% of our nation’s young people to compete in the world that
awaits them based on their acquired abilities and confidence.
I have worked to advance the education of youth for almost three
decades, almost from the first day that the report “A Nation at Risk” was
issued. That report called out our
failure to provide the right education for our youth in the world that was
emerging. The risk today is far
greater.
We all agree that the future is our youth. We know that the historic social and economic strength of
our nation relative to the rest of the world was founded on our having the best
and broadest education for our youth.
Today, it is not news that we have fallen behind other nations. Every international measure of academic
performance demonstrates this, whether it be in reading, math or science. At best, we are in the middle of the pack
compared to other nations; on most measures, we are toward the bottom.
But the most shocking news – one that really has not been digested let
alone acted on – is the enormous gap in student performance based on race and
social and economic status.
Even having studied this subject for years, I had no idea of the
magnitude of these gaps and how the current state of education, wealth
accumulation, income, and social acceptance indicates to any objective observer
that there is little likelihood of narrowing this gap. Indeed, it may even get worse – unless
we act very differently.
I recently finished reading one of the most compelling books I’ve read
in a long time: “The Measure Of A
Nation: How To Regain America’s
Competitive Edge and Boost Our Global Standing,” by Howard Steven
Friedman. Friedman analyzes the
condition of the United States versus 14 other developed nations on several
indicators, including health, education, safety and social mobility. The position of the United States on
each of these measures is, at best, in the middle and, more often, close to or
at the bottom. For example:
·
Life expectancy for males and females in the
United States is lower than any comparable nation, while infant and maternal mortality
are the highest.
·
The U.S. homicide rate is more than two times
the closest competitor; our incarceration rate is four times higher than the
closest.
·
And the depressing beat goes on.
However, it is our education preparedness, or more correctly the lack
of it, and the impact of this that is most concerning.
Which brings me to the title of this paper: “A Tale of Two Nations.”
As I said, we are all aware of the mediocre overall performance of U.S.
students on international performance tests compared to other countries.
What matters more – and what explains our mediocre position is the
gigantic gap between students resulting from wealth and social
inequalities. Take notice of these
facts:
·
The average PISA* reading score in the U.S. for higher
income schools – that is for schools in which fewer than 10% of students
receive a free or reduced price lunch – exceeds that of every other
comparative country.
·
The average PISA reading score for lower
income American schools – that is in which more than three quarters of
students receive a free or reduced price lunch – is far lower than every
other comparative country.
·
On the national assessment of educational
progress (NAEP), African American and Hispanic 12th graders scored
about the same as Caucasian American 8th graders.
·
The difference in wealth and income which
underlies both of these educational conditions and is, going forward, a result
of them, is simply devastating.
·
For example – African Americans and Hispanics
have only about 10% and 12% of the wealth of Caucasians, respectively.
·
The median earnings of Caucasians are nearly 50%
higher than those of African Americans and about 30% higher than Hispanics.**
It goes well beyond the scope of this paper to trace the many negative
consequences of poor education preparedness. Dramatically higher rates of incarceration and significantly
shorter life spans are among them.
It comes as no surprise that the author concludes that socio-economic
class and race have a far greater influence on educational preparedness and
social mobility in our nation than in the other countries he studied.
*Program for International Student Assessment
**Measure of a Nation:
How to Regain America’s Competitive Edge and Boost our Global Standing,”
pp. 79, 85, 214-216.
Improving the educational preparedness and outcomes for all of our
youth, with particular focus on youth from poor socio-economic and minority
racial backgrounds, is, as we all know, a generational and multi-dimensioned
task. Better teachers, longer
school days -- all these have a role to play.
But there is one area where there is no doubt and, for me, it is the
most easily implemented, both in knowing what to do and the cost being so
incredibly justified. I refer to
early childhood education.
We know that children with quality pre-school education are far more prepared
to enter kindergarten proficiently (results in the Greater Cincinnati area show
an improvement of over 30%). We
know that children who enter kindergarten prepared to learn are twice as likely
to be able to read proficiently by grade three. And we know that reading proficiently by grade three has a
dramatic effect on completing high school successfully (i.e., 80% vs. 43%) -- failure
to read proficiently by grade three makes the average student four times more
likely to drop out of school relative to those students reading
proficiently. Students who are
living in poverty are 13 times more likely to drop out than students who are
reading proficiently.
I rest my case.
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